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evanslmtd

Help identifying this variety of fig

evanslmtd
11 years ago

I bought this fig from a local nursery as a Alma. I just picked some ripe fruit from it and I'm thinking it's not an Alma. The fruit are a purlpe brown and average 13.4 grams/22.86 mm in size. The flesh is very sweet and of an excellant quality,and it's a light strawberry in color.

Thanks for the help!

Comments (25)

  • eden-13
    11 years ago

    Definitely not Alma,looks like Celeste to me but need better picture of fruit and leaves.

  • herman2_gw
    11 years ago

    I vote the same as first poster:
    This is Celeste or seedling of Celeste.
    It is very common ,that when people buy from large nursery Business ,they get it this way:Always something else!.
    It could be better tasting than Celeste but the person is dissatisfied because it is not what they ordered.
    I had some muslim people on a Major airline that almost started a riot,because the meat that was in their stew was pork,and almost at the destination,I notice them getting very agitated ,as they were just planing to retaliate for it.
    But one of them shoed me the food,and yeas the little piece of meat in there was indeed pork.
    So at the end they calmed down but I do not blame them,to be pissed off,because it is just wrong to serve them pork and insist it is not.

  • herman2_gw
    11 years ago

    I ment,it could be better tasting than Alma!

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hey Guys
    Thanks for the quick response!
    Herman:It's true that one ought to get the variety that one paid for. However, in this case, the fruit is very good, so I can't complain that much.

    eden-13: heres a photo of some fruit on the bush along with the leaves.

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    eden-13
    Here's another photo of the fruit. I forgot to mention that the skin feels like it has a light fuzz to it, almost like a peach.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    That looks like a turkey fig.

  • budbackeast
    11 years ago

    Brownturkey figs that I've owned and seen are smaller and tend to 'droop' more than his. Not sure just what he has, but 'tasty' is the standard, so hooray for him.

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    purplepop
    I'm pretty sure that the Fig in question isn't a 'Brown Turkey. I've got a "Brown Turkey" and this Fig doesn't look/taste anything like it.

  • herman2_gw
    11 years ago

    Tho I said above that it must be a Celeste Hybrid of some sort,I also can see Why Purpleinopp said it is a Brown Turkey.
    That is:The fig resemble Southern Brown Turkey,a small brown fig,very different than English Brown Turkey and California Brown Turkey ,2 cultivars that have very large fruits.
    So it could very well be a Hybrid of Southern Brown Turkey.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    Sorry, I probably shouldn't even be be butting in here. Just going on what I've been told from living here. The leaves and fruit look just like what grows here in almost everyone's yard, referred to as just "turkey figs." There are several different (BIG) leaves on any given tree. The fruits are slightly smaller than a ping pong ball when they start to turn purple, then shrink and get kind of puckered at the top when they're really ripe, dark purplish green. The skin peels off easily. Very sweet and sticky inside.

    A picture showing a quarter or something familiar next to a fruit would probably be helpful.

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    purpleinhop
    No problem, I appreciate your opinion.
    You are correct, I should have used a quarter for a size reference.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    Quarter, or not, those fig photos are almost works of still life art. Yum!

    They don't look like any Celestes I've ever seen, either. I've not seen Celestes with that flush on them. That's not the right word. Gene just told me what it's called and I've already forgotten.

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    Thanks for the kind words about the photos.
    I couldn't remember the correct word to describe the slight fuzz on the skin either.
    I'm still not sure what variety this fig is. However, I'm very satisfied with the fruit it produces.

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    Thanks for the kind words about the photos.
    I couldn't remember the correct word to describe the slight fuzz on the skin either.
    I'm still not sure what variety this fig is. However, I'm very satisfied with the fruit it produces.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    It's not fuzz I'm thinking of, it's that whitish blush that some figs and grapes get on them that I'm forgetting the term for.

    Where is Gene when I need him??? I'll see if I can google it, not that it's that important. My Black Celestes get that whitish coating. Is that what you are calling fuzz, maybe?

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    This Fig does have that "blush" that you described, but it also has a fuzzy texture to the skin. It's similar to that of a peach, but it's much finer.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    My grandparents' figs had kind of a dull finish on them that was kind of rough, but they were almost a chestnut red in color, no striping, or shading that I recall. There may have been some, but I was too busy eating them to look at them much. The leaves were different, as well.

    What do these figs look like when they are really ripe?

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    Here's a photo of the ripe fig. If I allowed them to ripen any longer they wouldn't be fit to eat.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    Don't they look delicious. Thanks for showing the picture and these look more ripe than in the picture above. Maybe they are BTs. If so, they look like very good BTs.

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    These figs actually tasted better than they looked in the photos. I'm still not sure what variety they are, but I'm completely satisfied with the quality of the fruit.
    I don't want to risk losing this fig to the cold weather so.....I guess I'll keep the plant in a pot for a while.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    Evans,

    That is the most important thing of all, not what the variety is so much as how good the fruit from the tree YOU have tastes. The do look good and if they are even better than they look, you have a winner, no matter what it is. Still, it's fun to know what you have for certain.

    I hope it does well for you for years to come and it should if you keep it in a pot for the first years.

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    I'm thinking that this fig along with a Black Mission and a Texas Blue Giant will have to remain in pots due to the really cold weather we get up here in North Texas now and then. I lost a couple of in ground figs a few years ago to a really nasty cold front that came through and don't want to gamble with the three above mentioned plants.

  • noss
    11 years ago

    Can you put a windbreak around the fig trees that might help them resist cold wind?

    It would depend upon how cold-hardy the trees are if they would do well in the ground with protection and I don't know about any of the ones you mention.

    Remember, in the hot weather--Shade those pots!

    noss

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    noss
    As I understand it, the three varieties of figs I mentioned aren't very cold tolerant, especially as young as they are. Maybe in a couple of years (when the plants get larger /stronger) I'll attempt to plant one or more of them in the ground. Till then, I'll keep them in pots.

  • evanslmtd
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hey Guys
    I think I've got the mystery solved about the variety of this fig.
    Yesterday I got in touch with the nursery that sold it to me and told them what the problem was. They said they'd get back to me (I never thought I'd hear from them again). A few hours later the owner called me back to say he'd been in touch with the grower that sold them the plants. The grower said it could only be one of three varieties cause that's all he grows. The choices were Brown Turkey, Alma & Celeste. I know it's not an Alma, and pretty sure that it's not a Brown Turkey, so the logical pick would be a Celeste.
    Turns out that eden13 & herman nailed it at the get go.
    In any case thanks for everyone's help and/or comments.
    Barry